Comments on: It’s Off (Gulp) to Kindergarten

By: catromano

catromano — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:51:56 +0000

thank you for sharing your story. my son is named Julian also and he will start school next year. he is allergic to peanuts and eggs and i am an anxious mom.

i do my best to teach him not to share food, wash hands before eating, and remind him that we carry his epipen all the time, but once he is out of my watchful eyes, i am feel quite nervous.

once he starts school, i will keep in mind that i should be proactive and realistic – and perhaps have a little more confidence in the school his teachers, and even my own little Julian.

thanks so much.

By: mamadizastre

mamadizastre — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:56:45 +0000

We’ve struggled countless times to figure out how to communicate our son’s allergy with importance, while putting peoples anxiety at rest. The truth is we haven’t really found a good balance. Part of the problem comes in where we as parents experience a great deal of fear and anxiety and often this comes out in the way we talk to others. I like what you had to say about conditioning your son to follow the rules, “no sharing food with others, always carry your auto-injector.” Personal protection has to start at a young age, as we don’t always have our eyes and spidy senses nearby.
One of the things we have found helpful in reducing the risks is making our yard the place where kids want to be. Toys, play structure, sandbox, etc… We make it so that kids ask to come to our house, that way it’s easier to enforce the rule “no nuts allowed.” It’s hard to expect others to have the same diligence as we do for our children, however, there are things we can do to make up for missed opportunities and still promote understanding and kindheartedness. That’s my rant for today (:
http://mamadizastre.wordpress.com/

By: davidjulian

davidjulian — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 05:29:15 +0000

So good to hear, my son Julian is also starting kinder soon and its super stressful. He is allergic to all tree nuts, sesame seed, sunflower seeds, dust mites and extremely fatally allergic to dogs and cats…Hope our experience is as smooth as yours. God Bless!

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:42:57 +0000

I was not surprised to read your article as I too am a mom to a soon to be 4 yr old name Julian who just entered JK. Our son is anaphylactic but here’s the kicker, he’s allergy includes touch in addition to ingestion. This has meant providing the school with lists of food and non food sources that contain tree nuts, peanuts and seeds (the allergens that cause Julian great harm). Both the school staff, board and parents have been especially caring and understanding to Julian’s severity and monitor not only their children’s snacks but also lotions, lip balms and even toys that they send to school. Ours has been just as frightening an introduction into the elementary school system but thankfully the children, parents and staff have been warm and welcoming of Julian and his safety needs … he’s even made some best buds already.